18 Quotes To Live By From “Girl, Wash Your Face” by Rachel Hollis

In truth, I had never heard of Rachel Hollis before this book. I also didn’t realize it was a Christian non-fiction self-help book until I was a few chapters in. Regardless, there’s been a lot of chatter about this book recently so I wanted to pick it up and read it for myself.

Girl, Wash Your Face s a quick read, reminiscent of You Are a Badass by Jen Sincero, though I think I prefer the latter. I have seen a few negative criticisms about this book, primarily saying it’s tone deaf in many ways, often ways that are directly correlated with the reviewers own personal life.

But with any self-help book, advice should be taken with a grain of salt. People can only write about what they know and share their experiences, and that’s what Hollis did here. Even if you can’t relate to her direct experiences, I do think there are many solid takeaways from the book that could be used as mantras, reminders, or simply just what you needed to hear in that moment.

I did underline quite a few lines in the book myself. Here are 18 of the quotes that spoke to me from Girl, Wash Your Face.

1. “Life is not supposed to overwhelm you at all times. Life isn’t meant to be merely survived–it’s meant to be lived.” (page 4)

2. “Imagine someone else describing their relationship to you. Would they say your relationship is healthy? If the answer is no, or if you even have to question it, I beg you to take a deeper look at the relationship in your life.” (page 54)

3. “Every single part of your life–your gratitude, the way you manage stress, how kind you are to others, how happy you are–can be changed by a shift in your perception.” (page 60)

4. “Your dream is worth fighting for, and while you’re not in control of what life throws at you, you are in control of the fight.” (page 68)

5. “It’s not about the goal or dream you have. It’s about who you become on your way to that goal.” (page 69)

6. “You do not have permission to quit.” (page 69)

7. “You will get through this season. This too shall pass. Don’t set the rest of your life up on a downhill slope because of one hard season.” (page 122)

8. “Decide what’s really important to you. Then do those things first. If the house is cluttered or you need to wait until next year to train for a half marathon, well that’s just life.”

9. “Digging into the why of how I behave as an adult is what makes me able to overcome unhealthy habits.” (page 127)

10. “I think the media we consume can positively impact our lives, and be creating media that uplifts and encourages women, we can literally change the world.” (page 129)

11. “I am not the only woman who is making herself small to make others feel more comfortable.” (page 129)

12. “Have you spent a lifetime muting yourself for fear of what others will think?” (page 130)

13. “Someone else’s opinion of you is none of your business.” (page 146)

14. “Childhood trauma is not a life sentence. Extreme emotional pain doesn’t guarantee emotional pain for the rest of your life.” (page 182)

15. “The difficult seasons we walk through are how we learn to build up strength to manage any situation. The strongest people you know? They’re probably walked some pretty hard roads and built up the skills necessary to be emotional giants. When they encounter hard things, their seasoned bodies rely on the good antibodies they’ve build up to handle that sort of scenario. They don’t medicate because they’re strong enough to manage on their own, and they know that medicating will likely make them weaker.” (page 194)

16. “Food, water, shelter, healthy relationships… those are things you need. Anything else you insert into that category becomes a dangerous crutch–you don’t need a crutch if you are strong enough to walk on your own.” (page 194)

17. “Regardless of how you were raised or what you were taught to believe, you get to decide where your story goes from here.” (page 205)

18. “Girl, get ahold of your life. Stop medicating, stop hiding out, stop being afraid, stop giving away pieces of yourself, stop saying you can’t do it. Stop the negative self-talk, stop abusing your body, stop putting it off for tomorrow or Monday or next year. Stop crying about what happened and take control of what happens next. Get up, right now. Rise up from where you’ve been, scrub away the tears and pain of yesterday, and start again… Girl, wash your face!” (page 213)

About the Author

Nicole Booz is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of GenTwenty. After graduating from the University of Maryland with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology and a minor in Human Development, she moved to Seattle where she currently lives with her husband. She is the author of The Kidult Handbook. When she’s not reading or writing, she’s probably hiking, eating brunch, or planning her next great adventure.